Sánchez Returns, Faces Gibson in Bowie
EL New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Sánchez Returns, Faces Gibson in Bowie

July 31, 2025 - Eastern League (EL)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats News Release


The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (11-16, 40-57) and the Chesapeake Baysox (12-17, 43-53) play the third game of their six-game set starting at 6:35 PM EDT on Thursday. New Hampshire sends Rafael Sánchez to the hill for his first start since June 22 against Somerset.

LAST TIME OUT

The Fisher Cats bounced back with a 7-5 win over the Baysox on Wednesday afternoon. Devonte Brown crushed his sixth homer of the year and third since the All-Star break to put the Cats on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning.

After Chesapeake took a 2-0 lead, New Hampshire rattled off five unanswered runs, thanks to run-scoring hits from Ryan McCarty and Cade Doughty. Jackson Hornung went 2-for-5 and Doughty extended his hit streak to 11 games.

Fisher Cats starter Grant Rogers (W, 4-6) picked up his second straight win by fanning six batters and allowing four runs in 5-2/3 innings pitched. Nate Garkow, Alex Amalfi and Conor Larkin (S, 5) finished up the final 3-1/3 innings. Garkow struck out one in 1-1/3 innings of relief before Amalfi surrendered one run in one relief frame. Larkin worked around a two-out walk and single to close out his fifth save of the year.

PITCHING MATCHUP

New Hampshire's Sánchez (2-5, 5.35 ERA) will make his 13th start and 19th appearance for the Fisher Cats this year. Sánchez started the year in the Fisher Cats rotation as each of his first 11 appearances were starts. The righty is 2-4 with a 5.44 earned run average over 51-2/3 innings pitched as a starter, compared to an 0-1 record and 5.02 ERA in six relief outings. Sánchez joined the Fisher Cats at the end of the 2024 season and made four starts, pitching to a 2.28 ERA over four starts. The Antilla, Cuba product was signed by Toronto in May of 2022 and made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in June. He climbed to High-A Vancouver by the end of the 2023 season before receiving the promotion to Double-A New Hampshire in September of 2024.

Chesapeake's Trey Gibson (3-2, 1.96 ERA) will make his ninth start for the Baysox this season. The righty started the year with High-A Aberdeen and made nine appearances before he was called up to Double-A Chesapeake on June 3. Gibson went 1-2 with a 5.12 earned run average with 67 strikeouts to 14 walks over 38-2/3 innings pitched for the IronBirds. Through eight games with the Baysox, Gibson has piled on 53 strikeouts and 17 walks in 41-1/3 innings pitched. Gibson ranks third amongst all minor league pitchers with 120 strikeouts across 17 total appearances. Only Binghamton's Jonah Tong and Tulsa's (AA, LAD) Patrick Copen have more punchouts with 146 and 123, respectively. Gibson is coming off his most dominant start at the Double-A level, firing seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and no walks in Chesapeake's 7-0 win in Altoona on July 25.

THIS DAY IN FISHER CATS HISTORY

July 31, 2022- The Fisher Cats earned a series win with a 9-6 win at Binghamton. Four of New Hampshire's home runs left the ballpark, with Davis Schneider, Cam Eden, Trevor Schwecke and Zac Cook all hitting home runs in the win. Andrew Bash worked 3.2 innings in relief to earn his seventh win.

WHAT'S NEXT?

New Hampshire and Chesapeake continue their series with a 7:05 PM EDT first pitch on Friday night. Toronto's No. 2 prospect Trey Yesavage (1-1, 5.14 ERA) gets the start against Baltimore's No. 10 prospect Nestor German (3-5, 4.34 ERA).

Check out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Statistics



Eastern League Stories from July 31, 2025


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